Gift Wrapping Ideas: 101

Yes: it’s official. Declared by the Legally Brunette herself (the biggest procrastinator ever): the Christmas Season has arrived. And when the Christmas season arrives, eye-intoxicating light displays arrive. And when eye-intoxicating light displays arrive, ominous packages arrive. And when ominous packages arrive-well, that can only mean one thing: gift wrap, baby. I actually took it upon myself to do a little research on the history of wrapping paper. According to Hallmark, the current gift-wrapping industry has been credited to a snowy winter day in the midst of a ravenous Christmas season in 1917 at a local Hall Brothers’ store in Kansas City, when a dire situation erupted. All of a sudden, the little local yokel Hall Brothers’ had run out of red, green, white, and holly tissue paper that was then the popular form of wrapping gifts. Later, the French started exporting fine envelope lining to Hallmark’s manufacturing plant, and then promptly placed on a display case for 10 cents a sheet. Soon, these sheets were vanishing off of shelves- just like that! Going up to 25 cents the next year, they sold out again! Thus, the gift-wrapping industry was born. Well today, nearly a century later, little old me will be publishing a blog post on some not-so-average gift wrapping ideas for you to try out. This season, I wanted to start inching myself away from sloppy tape jobs, and sub-par scissor handling skills to the more meaningful side of gift wrapping. So, without further-ado, I present to you: Not half bad gift wrapping by The Legally Brunette!

I decided to take a classic, slightly vintage route with this idea by incorporating some simple lace serving as an accent ribbon that also brings out the creamy white in the delicate rose pattern ribbon it’s paired with.

C’mon! It’s a well known fact that girls really do just wanna have fun! I am giving this to a friend where we may or may not have a blast when coming up with crazy emoji combinations along with our pretty crazy texts (i.e. late night videos of Zoella being just even more perfect than she already is, and Liza Koshy going on another Target shopping spree.) But really, this a perfect way to add a touch of fun to some plain old wrapping paper!

This was definitely one of my favorite designs, because it was so simple to make, but it looks like it could have been bought at a store! I actually found some of these stencils lying around my craft cabinet, and dabbed a bit of this pretty teal color over it to make this colorful print. I used the same teal color that I did in a previous post called, The Teal Pumpkin Project. What did I tell you? It’s as simple as, well, painting!

I know, I know. I’m gonna get quite a bit of flack for this one, but! Fine. I’ll say it. “Hi everyone, I’m the Legally Brunette, and I’m obsessed with Christmas music.” … Okay, if you’re still reading this caption, you are definitely a true subscriber. But come on! You’ve got to at least agree with me that Taylor Swift’s old Christmas album is the highlight of your holiday season, and that once you hear it you binge-listen to old T-Swizzle because it reminds you of the good old days! But just by printing out a few lyrics to your favorite holiday tune and slapping a piece of card stock on the back makes for a quick’n’easy sprinkle of magic to plain old gift wrap.

I really like this design, because you can customize it to whoever you’re giving it to. I played around with a few designs until I decided to scribble down some funny jokes and sayings that are special to me and my friends. This is such a personal and thoughtful style of wrapping, it’s like a gift within a gift! This would be great for a close friend, or someone you’ve lost touch with but want reconnect. Start with a blank canvas, and let your thoughts spill out from there.

Now this one probably took the most time, tape, scissors, and card stock out of my day and budget, but it was worth it! This was perfect for filling all of that surface area of blaaah, into something really special and grand. It adds that perfect stroke of creativity combined with the thoughtfulness of putting this together. I’m giving this to my mom, but after taking a longer look at it, this really would be pretty perfect for a math teacher, considering all of the geometric shapes. Whoever said arts = smarts- please come be my best friend!

Well, that’s it for these not-so-average gift wrapping ideas, but I hope you all have a very happy holiday season, and let me know in the comments section below what you thought of these ideas, if you’re planning to try any out, or, what your favorite part is of the holiday you celebrate! Also, my last blog post was about a new program I’m starting called “Reader of the Month” where readers can submit a piece of writing or artwork to The Legally Brunette Blog. I will provide a link below to the post where it gives more information. See you next time!